No Such Thing
by Gater101
Summary: Nancy Sheppard arrives in Atlantis to review Mr Woolsey's good work. AU.
1. Chapter 1

Title: No Such Thing  
Summary: Nancy Sheppard arrives in Atlantis to review Mr Woolsey's good work. Remnants AU.  
Characters: Everybody.  
Pairing: Sheppard/Teyla, Sheppard/Nancy, Teyla/Kanaan  
Rating: T  
Spoilers: Season Five.

Memos were sent every few minutes on Atlantis. It was a fact that John Sheppard had comes to terms with. It was a fact that John Sheppard deleted almost all of them that weren't from Teyla or Ronon. He especially deleted memos from Rodney and Woolsey and waited until they called him over the radio for whatever important meeting/discussion/experiment the memo had detailed.

As it was, he wished he'd read the memo about the mission he and his team had embarked upon earlier that morning. He hadn't understood Rodney's grumpier than usual demeanour, nor cared to interpret the sideways glares Ronon through his ways and he didn't think to question why even Teyla seemed none-too-pleased with going on the mission. When he'd gotten the memo from Woolsey, titled "Next Mission: Please Read", he'd simply responded with an automated "Sounds good" email memo in response.

As leader of the military in Atlantis, John Sheppard got a _lot _of memos.

It was only now he wished he spent more time reading them.

The blue goo they had to trudge through to get to the relatively advanced town on the other side of the ravine stuck to _everything_. It was in his boots, his hair, it covered his gear, his gun – his _hair – _and when he looked at the members of his team and saw the blue smears across their faces and necks and arms, he knew he didn't look much better.

It was then he'd understood McKay's grumbling about just why they couldn't take a puddle jumper. He sighed, heaving his pack and his P-90 farther away from the deepening sludge, he trudged on, trying to ignore the slurping, sucking sound the goo made as they hefted one foot out and then the next and the next and the next.

Then it started raining and John had stopped, dropped his hands to his sides and let the goo wash over his fingers. He stared up at the falling dollops of water, cursing the grey clouds that swarmed from the horizon. From the corner of his eye, he could see Teyla and Ronon share a glance as Rodney continued whining about everything he could possibly think of.

They waited a few more moments, feeling the rain soaked through their gear before John decided it was time to turn back and call it a day. He was wet, cold, covered in goo, his legs were sore and he'd been listening to McKay whine on and on and on for almost an hour. He hated to think it, because he knew that whenever he did something always happened, but he wondered just what could make his day any worse than it already was.

When they stepped back through the Stargate into the welcoming warmth of Atlantis, John wished he hadn't thought the thought. Because instead of the gentle, welcoming, calming warm thrum that usually greeted him, he felt the strangest tickling of unease in the back of his mind.

He glared at Woolsey when the leader of Atlantis smirked knowingly down from the balcony above and John swore incoherently under his breath, just loud enough for his team to her. Unamused, they handed their sticky goo covered P-90's over to the waiting Marines and walked off without them. After exchanging a few words with Woolsey – still dripping blue goo onto the floor – he followed their sticky trail into the corridor.

It was then that the whispers he'd heard, the tickling he'd felt swamped him and he stumbled slightly at the ferocity of it, using the wall as support as he waved off a few startled SF's. Closing his eyes, he saw the outline of Atlantis, saw the glowing dot in his mind's eye above him in the control room and he shuddered.

He recognised the sensation but the City didn't and John felt the confusion swarm through him; the city's, his own – he wasn't sure.

He stood upright and turned back to the stairway that led up the control room, slipping on the combination of slick surface and soppy goo, holding onto the railing as he went, ignoring the city's pleas for him to turn around and have a shower and to deal with whatever lay beyond later.

There was no threat to the city but John felt the irresistible tug anyway.

The distance from there to Woolsey's office seemed doubled – _tripled _– as John made his way there, sensing his trepidation rise with each step he took.

On the tunnel, he stalled, his eyes fixing on a head of brown hair that he was all too familiar with. He frowned, his lips forming a confused line as he tilted his head from side to side.

When Woolsey spotted him, he gestured to the person sitting in front of him and Nancy – John's ex-wife Nancy – turned around slowly in her chair.

As she eyed him up, from his blue smeared face, to his sodden fatigues, John closed his eyes and really wished he paid more attention to his memos.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: No Such Thing, part 2  
Summary: Nancy Sheppard arrives in Atlantis to review Mr Woolsey's good work. Remnants AU.  
Characters: Everybody  
Pairing: Sheppard/Nancy, Sheppard/Teyla, Teyla/Kanaan  
Rating: T  
Spoilers: Season 5.

The water beat down on him, scalding and unforgiving. He didn't know how long he'd been under the burning spray but as the water started to cool, he didn't think it was long enough. He hadn't scrubbed and the blue goo lingered in places unmentionable and when he did slide the bar of soap over his chest, down his legs, under his arms, it was with less enthusiasm than he'd ever imagined possible and the blue goo moved over his body, washing down the drain with the tepid water.

His skin burned as the cold water struck him but he didn't move from under it. The contrast was thrilling, sending jolts of electricity through his body that were almost pleasurable. His head against the wet tiles was throbbing at the city's insistence he let down his guard. His hands on either side of the shower head trembled as they held his weight against the wall. Water swam around his feet, scummy and foamy but he paid it little heed.

_What the hell?_

That one thought kept passing through his mind in great big shining letters, flashing insistently against his closed eyelids, reminding him that what he'd seen hadn't been a scene from last night's dreamscape. She was actually there, in Atlantis, assessing Woolsey's performance. She was actually there, in Atlantis, knowing his secret. She was actually there, in Atlantis. Period.

He turned, frustrated, and hit the shower off, stepping out into the cool, moist air of his bathroom. There were so many things wrong with her presence in the city that he couldn't even begin to name.

Ever since he'd come to Atlantis, the place had been like a sanctuary to him. A place where the happenings of his life _before _Atlantis didn't really matter because no one there knew him, no one there judged him. And certainly no one – until Ronon, almost two years ago – had known he'd been married, that he'd had a wife, that his marriage had failed and that he'd ended up divorced by the time he was twenty four.

And now she was in Atlantis.

And for the first time in five years, he'd felt cut off from the city. Because if he let himself feel what was going on, her presence flashed like a beacon in his mind and he was reminded of just why it was he was hiding out in his bathroom, under the pretence of showering.

"_Colonel Sheppard," Woolsey said as his eyes flickered briefly to the woman sitting in front of him. "You look..."_

"_Yeah."_

_He didn't know what his response meant but at that moment, his brain refused to function. Her eyes travelled over him, almost playful – definitely assessing – and found the smirk that was playing around the corner of her lips annoyed him more than it should. _

"_So this is where you've been hiding, John."_

_He narrowed his eyes at her but didn't respond straight away._

"_What are you doing here?" He asked with more venom than he'd initially meant. She wasn't startled, though Woolsey was, and John was suddenly reminded of why he'd __**liked **__her in the first place._

"_Didn't you get my memo?" Woolsey asked and John tilted his head as he shifted his glare to his leader. _

"_Which one?"_

_The amused half-smile that cloyed around Woolsey's lips reminded John that the guy did actually have a sense of humour. John narrowed his eyes as Woolsey's gaze flicked over his blue-goo-covered slacks before his mask of professionalism slipped back into place._

"_Both?"_

_At the tickling of amusement at the back of his mind, John pivoted on his heel and walked out of the office. _

When the chimes sounded, he knew instantly that the other person on the side of the door was someone he didn't want to talk to. For the simple fact that he didn't want to talk to anyone. He waited a few moments, silent and stony in the bathroom as though the slightest movement would alert the person on the other side of the door outside that he was, in fact, inside. When the door didn't slide open, he knew it wasn't Rodney. When the chimes sounded again he knew it wasn't Teyla. When he heard the loud thud of fists against the door, followed by a gruff "Sheppard", he knew it wasn't Nancy.

When he opened the door, Ronon brushed past him, taking residence in the centre of the room. John stood there for a few moments, his chest prickling as the cool air hit his exposed chest.

"Come in, Ronon," he said redundantly, sarcastically, as he turned back into the room, making a bee-line for the bathroom and some clothes. In the bathroom, he dragged a towel through his hair and dried himself off, shuffling into a pair of jeans and an old tee he hardly ever wore and stood staring at his reflection for a good few minutes.

"That you just showering?"

He jumped slightly at the sound of Ronon's voice at his back and he met the Satedan's gaze in the mirror.

"Nancy's here." Ronon grunted and slid out of the bathroom, Sheppard following. "I..."

"I'd thought you'd handled the news a little too well."

"What?" Sheppard asked incredulously.

"Now I know it's 'cause you didn't get the memo." Sheppard raised his eyebrow, questioning and Ronon shrugged. "It's not my fault."

"You could have told me!"

"I didn't think you'd have wanted to talk about it," he said with a shrug as he prowled around the room and Sheppard watched him, bemused.

"What you doing here?" Ronon shrugged but didn't say anything, casting his gaze out of the window to the view beyond. "I still don't want to talk about it."

"She wants interviews with all heads of department." Sheppard groaned and dragged his hand down his face, scrubbing tiredly at his eyes and hair and skin. "And us."

Sheppard grunted again.

"And that, I imagine, has lots to do with Woolsey's appraisal."

Ronon grunted again and clapped Sheppard on the shoulder as he passed by him.

"You should read some of your memos, Sheppard." Sheppard rolled his eyes and rolled his shoulder after Ronon's 'friendly pat'. "Come on," he continued as he made his way to the door, "they're showing Die Hard down in the rec. room."

--

The movie did little to ease Sheppard's discomfort and as the others in the room stared at the television screen, Sheppard stared into space, almost brooding. He'd never admit it, if asked, but he knew that the others could probably see the indignant pout on his lips.

Nancy had never known the rules of the line. When to cross it and when to leave well enough alone; those thoughts had never been ones to cross her mind when she wanted something. She was like a dog, sometimes; once she got her teeth into something that was it. He wondered when it was she'd learned that he was on Atlantis – before or after she had been commissioned to go there. Had his presence been a defining factor, or had she not had a choice in the matter? Sheppard knew her though and knew well enough that she'd had a choice – that she'd made the choice – regardless of the consequences.

The darkness was broken by a shaft of light and Sheppard glanced to the door and groaned at the sight, sliding further down in his seat. Ronon cast him a sideways glance and Sheppard glared back at him, crossing his arms over his chest petulantly.

Of course, the only space big enough for another person was beside Sheppard and when Kanaan sat beside him, Sheppard couldn't help shifting away from him slightly. Ronon grunted a hello and Sheppard nodded in response to Kanaan's nod of greeting.

"Have I missed much?"

Sheppard had forgotten – somehow, idiotically – that Kanaan enjoyed movies. Teyla had been the same when she'd first arrived in Atlantis before she'd discovered music, books and yoga. He wondered how long it would take for Kanaan to get just as fed up with the little tidbit of Earth culture and really rather hoped it was soon.

Sheppard had never liked the guy; even back when they'd first met the Athosians, Kanaan had been one of the first on Sheppard's 'Keep An Eye On List'. Since his run in with Michael, Sheppard felt he was entirely justified in his actions. Granted, it had caused a few arguments between him and Teyla and Woolsey – Sheppard may have accused Teyla of compromising the base's security by trying to weedle Kanaan a place in the city, to which she had threatened him with her resignation – but he still felt that he was right.

And Kanaan's convenient absence during Michael's rule of the city had only piqued Sheppard's mistrust.

But who was he to say, really, when all he had was his gut instincts? It wasn't like they were worth anything anymore these days.

"Not much," Ronon said and Sheppard turned to him when the Satedan's elbow nudged his shoulder. He glared up at Ronon who simply glared back and Sheppard shifted in his seat.

He was being immature. He knew he was being immature. But he just didn't care.

"I heard you had..." he trailed off and Sheppard to Kanaan curiously. "What is it you say – a blast from the past?"

Sheppard closed his eyes, sighed and shook his head slightly in frustration at Ronon's snort.

"Something like that," he muttered in response as he cast a sideways glance to a few of the military men who were pretending not to listen in.

"It must be comforting," he continued and John turned back to him, "to have someone from your own world in Atlantis."

John snorted.

"There are plenty of people from my world here," he said, not unkindly, with a smile and a quick glance around the room.

Kanaan smiled and ducked his head slightly and John could imagine the man was blushing. He rolled his eyes slightly at that. _Immature, _his mind supplied but he shrugged off the thought.

"I meant someone from your past – someone you care about."

Sheppard looked away, suddenly quiet. He rolled his neck and looked down at his hands. Kanaan, he could sense, turned to the movie and he was thankful.

"_It must be comforting."_

Sheppard shook his head.

There was no such thing as a comforting blast from his past.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: No Such Thing, part 3  
Summary: Nancy Sheppard arrives in Atlantis to review Mr Woolsey's good work.  
Characters: Everyone  
Pairing: Sheppard/Teyla, Sheppard/Nancy, Teyla/Kanaan.  
Rating: T

If he was going to be honest with himself – which, on rare occasions, he sometimes was – he would admit that he'd been quite successful. His plan had been to avoid Nancy Sheppard and considering she'd been on base for almost two full days without him running into her, he'd call it a victory.

It wasn't all flowers and roses though; he and his team had been called off world to deal with a mess Rodney had left a few months before and the political fallout of losing one of their trading partners – as Woolsey had stressed, looking more haggard than normal – was beyond comprehension. If he'd asked John – which he didn't, though John believe he really should have – it wasn't that big of a deal and it didn't merit the full inquiry that the currently under review leader had commanded. McKay had been, for his part, almost sheepish with the turnout – this planet did, after all, supply Atlantis with a fresh range of coffee like beans every few weeks and the loss of which was, in McKay's eyes, monumental.

When Woolsey had come to find him a few hours later, Sheppard had been in his office under a pile of months old paperwork, making like he was busy. Woolsey had floundered, flustered as he told Sheppard how he'd been all over the city looking for him because conveniently, Sheppard's office was somehow out of range of the radios. What if there had been an emergency? What if Atlantis had been invaded, or one of Rodney's scientists blew something else up that resulted in the requirements of Sheppard's expertise.

Sheppard didn't point out that the city kept him well in the loop of every little going on, even when he didn't want it to.

Instead, he quirked his eyebrow and asked Woolsey what it was he really wanted.

"Ms Sheppard wants to speak to your team and, aside from Teyla, the others have been more than a little reticent." Sheppard lifted his eyebrow, attempting to keep the smirk from his face. Woolsey responded by narrowing his eyes. "I had hoped you would set an example for them to follow but as I can see..." He trailed off as he eyed the reams of paper on Sheppard's desk. "Just talk to them, will you?" Sheppard bit the inside of his lip even as he nodded. Woolsey visibly relaxed before him and Sheppard felt a little guilty for hiding out in his office but the feeling didn't last long. "Since you're doing some paper work, can you try and have the annual performance reviews handed in relatively on time?"

Sheppard scowled as Woolsey left the room, staring forlornly at the mounds before him. He wondered which lackey he could employ to try and sort it into piles while he went for some lunch because he really had no idea where to start.

He was about to send a quick e-mail to one of the newest recruits when Woolsey's head appeared around the doorjamb.

"She'll find out where your office is sooner or later." Sheppard feigned innocence and Woolsey rolled his eyes slightly. "Goodness knows you did."

Woolsey didn't see the leer Sheppard threw to his back.

--

When he'd radioed Ronon and Rodney and Lorne to make sure the coast was clear, Sheppard made his way to the mess hall in search of some late lunch. As he snuck around the halls, it came to him that he may be acting a little inappropriately and that the example he was setting for the members of the expedition were less than stellar. But then he remembered that Nancy was in Atlantis and that he really didn't want to talk to her.

His actions may be immature, but the reasons behind them certainly weren't.

"Oh, thank God!" Rodney said loudly as Sheppard made his way towards him with a full tray. "I was beginning to think you were going to hide out all day – Ronon's been making me-"

"No I haven't."

Rodney glared at Ronon, who smirked back at him as he shovelled food into his mouth.

"Where have you been?"

Sheppard shrugged as he took a seat beside Ronon, facing the doorway.

"In my office."

Rodney spluttered.

"Excuse me, where?" Sheppard sneered at him. "I didn't think you had one of those."

"Of course I do," he said casually with a shrug. "I just don't use it often." He took a bite out of the sandwich he'd picked up and chewed slowly, looking out over the sea. The sky was clear, the late afternoon sun low in the sky, glittering off the calm surface of the ocean. It was a good day for a ride. "I was supposed to be going to the mainland with one of your teams this morning," Sheppard said to McKay pointedly and McKay grunted.

"Good to know I saved you the hassle."

Ronon grunted this time and Sheppard couldn't help the half smirk that lifted his lips.

"It would have been no hassle-"

"Oh you-" he bit his tongue as his eyes flicked over Sheppard's shoulder, causing Sheppard to still and his stomach to drop out. "Crap."

"McKay-"

"It's Nancy and-"

"You better not be-"

"I'm not she's-"

"Crap-"

"Right there."

Sheppard lowered his sandwich to the tray slowly and waited for the impending meeting, cringing at the sound of her heels clipping along the tiled floor. For some reason, it surprised him that she would be wearing heels.

"Rodney, Ronon, John."

Sheppard closed his eyes briefly at the voice – _not _the one he'd expected – before quickly pushing a smile onto his face. The three nodded in greeting as the two women took seats on either side of Rodney and Nancy caught his eye quickly, smirking gleefully over to him for a brief moment before looking to the other two men.

"I'm Nancy-"

"Rodney McKay."

Ronon didn't say anything, only nodded, the smallest hint of a familial smile tilting the corner of his lips.

"You're my four o'clock."

McKay simply stared, wide eyed and flustered and Sheppard couldn't help the small grin that erupted across his face at the sight; he'd seen it more often than necessary but still it never ceased to amuse him.

"I never agreed to see you."

Nancy simply smiled over to McKay, rustling the scientist's feathers further when she didn't instantly reply. Instead, she spooned something – limp and green – from her plate into her mouth, sending a side long glance to John who couldn't help but smile back. When McKay turned to him, frowning at the exchange, John quietly cleared his throat and looked down to the half eaten sandwich on the plate in front of him.

Suddenly, he wasn't hungry anymore.

"You did when you signed up to the expedition."

McKay huffed and John saw the briefest flash of silver as McKay's spoon made a glittering arc through the air.

"So I'm just supposed to do whatever it is you tell me to?"

Nancy cocked her head to the side and studied McKay for a moment before shrugging.

"No." John could _feel _McKay's smug smile and he winced for the poor Canadian. "You can stop once I leave."

McKay turned to Sheppard, but John didn't look up; he simply smiled, puffed out a laugh and shook his head.

"Great."

--

Nancy's pastime had once been John Sheppard and she found that, in the few days she'd been on Atlantis, that her once favourite hobby had returned full force. Sitting at the small table in the canteen, she almost forgot that she was on an alien planet, in an alien galaxy, on a city turned ship created by a race of beings who were the first evolution of humans and who had populated beaucoup de galaxies.

Her eyes flickered past the occupants of the table to the cerulean sky beyond, the tips of a few glittering spires that she knew went on for miles in each direction. In her peripherals, a door slid open and a small group of what looked like Marines wandered in, flicking an informal salute in the direction of their table. She saw John return it and she turned back to the table, to the people around it.

John had never been one to idolise power, he'd shunned responsibilities – because it was just not worth it – and to see him so _in control... _She supposed it shouldn't have surprised her; John had been voted – behind his back, of course – as the one most likely to underachieve. And she knew it wasn't because of a lack of intelligence – he just didn't know how to handle people, feelings, _situations _very well.

It was part of the reason she'd decided to come to Atlantis. Because the opportunity to study _Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, _military commander of an expedition to an alien city turned ship was an opportunity she had not – and could not – pass up. She'd been aware that he might not appreciate her presence but even she had been surprised by his vehement avoidance of her. She knew he valued his privacy but she'd been surprised that she'd had to explain to Mr Woolsey that she was his ex-wife and not his sister.

She'd just never gotten around to changing her name.

And despite what Patrick and Dave Sheppard – and maybe even her own mother – thought, it wasn't because she harboured secret beliefs that they'd get back together. Maybe in the beginning when she'd been young and naive but, as she rationalised to everyone who dared ask her, she'd made her name as Nancy Sheppard – there was no point in changing it now.

John laughed and Nancy blinked, tuning back into the conversation around her. Teyla and Dex were smirking openly and McKay was grumbling incomprehensible words into his mug of coffee. She quirked an eyebrow in John's direction but he simply shook his head and took a sip from his own cup, turning his eyes to his team mates.

She hated that she felt slighted by that.

To them – to John – she was an outsider.

She quickly finished off her salad and grabbed her bottle of water, intending to make her excuses and try and find her way out of the maze of the central tower to her temporary quarters. The almost imperceptible turn of heads halted her though and she paused, midway through her rise and waited for them to explain. When John tapped his earpiece and muttered a quick "We'll be right there", she was left sitting alone at the table as they rushed out of the mess hall into the maze of corridors leading up to the control room.

--

Woolsey nodded to them as they arrived in the control room, Rodney swarming around Zelenka at one of the consoles, Teyla and Ronon standing back as Sheppard crowded the young airman at one of the other terminals.

"What is it?"

"It's a hive ship," Zelenka said quickly, sliding his chair out of the way as McKay reached around him to tap on a laptop.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sheppard was aware of Nancy arriving with an SF, standing quietly in the corner, observing.

"I can see that but what's it-"

"We don't know."

"Is it-"

"Yes!" Rodney interrupted, glaring at Sheppard.

"How long until it gets here?"

There was a pause as McKay and Zelenka tapped a few buttons and Woolsey drummed his fingers on the console. Sheppard stared, with a familiar swirl in his stomach, at the flashing dot on the iridescent screen in front of him. He hated when the thing flashed; it almost always meant that someone wanted to try and kill them again.

"A day at most."

"Are you sure it's not just-?" Woolsey began but McKay cut him off.

"No. Our frequencies would have picked them up if it was the Daedalus."

Woolsey closed his eyes and Sheppard almost felt bad for the guy. The past few weeks of Atlantis had been relatively quiet – given the previous four years experience – and there had been no real decisions to be made. But as Nancy took a step further into the room, her eyes skimming across John's face before resting on Woolsey, John couldn't help thinking that the Wraith had a sensor for this kind of thing.

"What is your plan of action, Mr Woolsey?" Nancy asked, her voice all business and Sheppard realised he was glad he'd never needed to be on the receiving end of it.

Woolsey turned his eyes to the flashing dot on the screen and shook his head.

"I have no idea."


	4. Chapter 4

Title: No Such Thing  
Summary: Nancy Sheppard arrived in Atlantis to review Mr Woolsey's good work.  
Characters: Everyone  
Pairing: John/Nancy, John/Teyla, Teyla/Kanaan  
Rating: T

Sheppard hated that Woolsey hesitated in making the decision that, yesterday, would have needed no thought. Send John to the chair – or a Puddle Jumper – and let him take out the Hive ship, regardless of whether it was Todd (unlikely) or not. It was simple but instead, Woolsey had retreated to his office with his spreadsheets and thought processes, trying to weigh the pros and cons. John was only thankful the city wasn't under attack.

As a result, Sheppard and his team had been relegated to the lower levels of the city, awaiting Woolsey's orders. In the locker room, McKay studiously tapped away at his laptop, the constant beeping of the machine alerting Sheppard to the fact that he'd somehow managed to tap into the city's mainframe. Ronon hung around his open locker room, the sound of clunking letting Sheppard know that he was... doing something at least. Teyla, John was surprised to learn, was seated beside him silently, watching the other two like he was. She hadn't said much since she had arrived at the table in the mess hall but this wasn't new; things between them hadn't been quite _right _since they'd escaped Michael's hive ship so many months ago now.

From the corner of her eye, he watched her fidget with her hands, wringing them together – over and over again. She shifted, the sound rough against his ear and he turned to her, watching her profile.

He'd somehow managed to convince himself that she had changed but as he watched her, watched as she cast her eyes down to her hands again, her lips parting slightly as she breathed, he wondered if he'd been wrong. She turned to him and they shared a smile, almost friendly, before he looked away suddenly awkward.

"It must be comforting," she said quietly and Sheppard frowned at the familiar sentiment. "Having someone from your past here." Sheppard didn't reply as he shrugged, not really willing to have the conversation in front of the other two. Or ever, really. He glanced to the other two, noting that they seemed suddenly immersed in whatever it was they were doing, rather than boredly fidgeting. "I-"

"Comforting isn't a word I would use."

She turned to him slightly, her lips drawn together. He shrugged as he turned away again. She conceded with a nod and the conversation – as well as the tension – dipped to a new low. She got it; they got it – and he was glad.

"Hey, Sheppard," Ronon said as he leaned casually against the lockers, a small smirk playing around the edges of his lips. "Is she still seeing that guy?"

Sheppard shrugged immediately, willing the conversation to suddenly change drastically.

"I wouldn't know." He narrowed his eyes at Ronon's playful grin. "Why?"

"I was thinking maybe-"

"Don't. Even. Go there," Sheppard interrupted instantly.

"You don't even know-"

"Doesn't matter. Just don't."

Rodney and Ronon shared amused grins, while Sheppard simply glared at them in turn. Teyla, for her part, managed to keep her snicker internal but Sheppard could see the amusement in her eyes. He spared a glare for her anyway and she had to look away to keep in her chortle of laughter.

"Think Woolsey's finished-"

"Colonel Sheppard's team to the control room."

The team glanced at one another, eyebrows raised for a moment before Sheppard checked his watch. Forty minutes they'd been waiting on Woolsey's decision.

"Let's go."

--

"What do you mean, it's stopped?" McKay asked as he rounded the control panel, hovering once again over Zelenka as the Czech worked. "You sure you didn't just break it?"

Zelenka rolled his eyes.

"I am sure." He pointed towards the filmy graphic, indicating the flashing dot once more. "It's been stationary for ten minutes now. We're not picking up any distress signals – nothing."

Sheppard advanced towards the film, watching the flashing red dot. Wraith ships didn't just stop; if it was Michael, he'd not risk the pause; Todd would know where Atlantis was and any other Wraith ship would have either turned back or flew ignorantly by. It made no sense.

He ignored Woolsey as the older man questioned the two or three scientists in the room, groaning at the thought of another forty minute wait to decide whether or not his team should go investigate.

"Weird, huh?" He questioned Teyla who stood close to his side, likewise observing the dormant dot.

"Very," she replied, equally as quietly, her tone mild. He sighed and she mirrored him. From his other side, he was vaguely aware of the others, a set of eyes but he paid it no heed as he stared at the film, the image distorting as he stared harder. "Do you think it is-"

He turned to her slightly, his shoulder elbow brushing against her at the motion. She didn't turn to him but he could see the apprehension in the tight set of her shoulders.

"I don't know," he interrupted quietly, licking his lips slightly as he glanced back to the others. "Is Torren-"

"He is with Kanaan."

"Do you-"

"No." She shook her head, emphasising her point and Sheppard nodded turning away from her again, back to the scene in the control room, listening as McKay argued his point. "Thank you."

He nodded once and stepped away.

"What's happening McKay?"

Rodney looked ready to make a retort, his eyes flicking between Sheppard and Teyla but John's well timed glare kept the words at bay. Sheppard towered over the seated Canadian and stared at the screen but he didn't understand the flashing code. As much as he was connected with the city, he'd never cared to learn Ancient.

"We've received a transmission," Rodney said quietly as he tapped away on the laptop, the script before him shifting and altering. It still made no sense to Sheppard. "We're trying to unscramble it."

"Who's it from?" Sheppard asked as he stepped away, around the other side of the panel.

McKay tapped a few more buttons and turned extravagantly to one of the smaller display screens, hitting another button. Images flashed across the screen but they were disjointed, soundless but Sheppard made out all he needed to see.

"Todd..." He murmured and glanced to Teyla, noting the almost imperceptible slump of her shoulders. She had been uneasy for days, he had sensed, and he didn't know why – hated that he could no longer ask.

"I'll try to clean it up but it's pretty scrambled," McKay said as Teyla took a step towards them, watching the screen with intent.

She closed her eyes and took a breath, her lids fluttering. Sheppard paid it little heed as he turned back to McKay, tapping impatiently on his thigh.

"I sense no Wraith," Teyla murmured quietly and Sheppard spun towards her.

"What are you- Teyla!" He admonished and her eyes snapped open, her breathing uneven.

"Perhaps it is the distance but-"

"You can sense them from this far?" Woolsey asked and Teyla nodded, her eyes flickering closed again before Sheppard gripped her elbow, rousing her.

"Don't." He shook his head but turned away from her, to Wolsey who stood staring at the scene before him in wonderment. "We'll take a Jumper out – see what's going on."

"You don't even-"

"It's the retro-virus," McKay said gravely, his eyes heavy as he glanced across the people in the room. "Something went wrong – I can't tell what; the video is still scrambled and it doesn't make sense but-"

"What does it say McKay?"

McKay gestured to the smaller screen again where the transmission was playing over again. The sound was tinny, the images jumpy but Sheppard picked up the important words of "retro-virus", "failed" and "need help".

He was in half a mind to just leave Todd festering away with the failing retro virus – especially after his little stunt last time they'd tried to help him – but when he caught sight of Nancy, standing quietly in the corner, he remembered with great vivid detail that he wanted to be very far away from Nancy for as long as possible.

"Colonel Sheppard-" Woolsey began but Sheppard cut him off.

"Yes, sir." He and his team stood and Sheppard made it half way out of the control room, casting a glance back up to McKay. "Rodney, you sit this one out." He glanced behind Rodney's incredulous face to Nancy as she approached Sheppard. "Your four o'clock is staying here."

He smirked at Rodney before turning and continuing down the stairway.

--

"We're just going to go and have a quick look around, see what he wants," Sheppard reasoned as he, Teyla and Ronon geared up in efficient silence.

Woolsey had appeared a few minutes earlier, detailing what he wanted them to discover – needlessly, John thought as it wasn't like they didn't do this every other day anyway – and to just check they hadn't gotten any crossed wires. He was covering his ass, Sheppard knew, but he couldn't really blame the guy.

"McKay will kill you when we get back," Ronon said as he passed Sheppard in the hallway some minutes later but Sheppard simply shrugged and grinned over to Teyla who rolled her eyes quickly before attaching her P-90 to her vest. They could never be too careful – not when the Wraith (even Todd) were involved.

In the Jumper bay, Rodney stood with Nancy and Woolsey, his arms crossed over his chest in petulance and Sheppard struggled to hide his grin.

"Be careful," Woolsey said John's team embarked the Jumper.

"I modified the life signs detector to read hibernating Wraith; if what Teyla says is true, you might need it." Sheppard nodded, grateful for McKay's input. "If I was going, I wouldn't have needed-"

"But you're not, so you did and we're grateful for that, Rodney," Sheppard countered and Rodney sneered, looking away.

"Good luck," he murmured before stalking out of the Jumper Bay.

Sheppard raised his eyebrows to Woolsey, amused. Woolsey simply shook his head – it appeared his earlier good mood had vanished with the arrival of the Wraith. John couldn't blame him, really.

He turned to the Jumper and made it half a step before he felt Nancy's hand on his forearm. He glanced to her tight grip then up to her eyes.

"Be safe."

He nodded once, flicked his eyes to her hand again, and moved away.

When he sat, he could still feel her grip and he tried to shake it off. He ignored the raised eyebrow from Ronon, ignored the way Teyla studiously ignored him and touched a few buttons on the Jumper, bringing it to life. Gripping the sticks, he felt the familiar rush of warmth swim through him and he smiled.

"_Be safe."_

As the Jumper rose through the bay doors, he gripped his arm idly with his free hand.

Her touch, much to his dismay, hadn't been entirely unwelcome.

These next few days, he knew, were going to be very long indeed.


	5. Chapter 5

Title: No Such Thing, part 5  
Summary: Nancy Sheppard arrives in Atlantis to review Mr Woolsey's good work.  
Characters: Bit of everyone.  
Pairing: Nancy/Sheppard, Sheppard/Teyla, Teyla/Kanaan  
Rating: T

"You understand, Richard, I'm sure."

Woolsey grudgingly nodded. He'd been in Nancy's position many times before – he'd been the bad guy to people like himself too often for him to _not _understand. Only now did he fully understand why people disliked him _so much_. He hated Nancy's position and, if she was anything like he had been back then, he knew she hated doing what she was doing.

In his office – where he'd retired to after watching Sheppard's Jumper slip through the Bay doors seamlessly – she sat quietly in the corner with a handheld tablet, tapping buttons silently, every now and again glancing in his direction when his palm landed flat and loud on the surface of his table with a slap. He couldn't believe it; the City had been quiet for _weeks_ and if he didn't know any better he'd assume that whoever was in the ship floating off in space had a device in Atlantis that let them know Nancy was here reviewing Woolsey.

He had gotten used to life in Atlantis, he admitted. He'd realised soon enough that the detachment from Earth wasn't the god forsaken end of all things that the IOA had thought; it was, in fact, a blessing to those leading the expedition. It offered them leniency that Woolsey had once upon a time frowned upon. Now, he couldn't imagine having the IOA breathing down his neck every two minutes, questioning his judgement – making him question his own judgement – at moments of pressure.

He was suddenly very glad that the people he'd surrounded himself with – or, more accurately, been surrounded by – were so damn good at their job. Without them, he would have been flailing blindly in the sea off the East Pier within his first week. He'd been talked off the edge – figuratively speaking, of course – too many times to count by Sheppard and Lorne, even Teyla and Doctor Beckett and if it hadn't been for them in his first few months, he's sure he'd be back on Earth pushing papers around telling whoever was unfortunate enough to have the Atlantis position how to do their job.

"I do," he said eventually with a half smile to Nancy. "It's just a very different feeling from this side of the firing range."

Nancy smiled sympathetically and Woolsey looked away. Through the glass walls of his office, he could see a flurry of activity in the control room and heard the radio burst to life as Kostokov's team radioed for clearance. These sounds that had once seemed so foreign to him were a blessing, instilling him with a sense of _home _so profound that he wondered why anyone would ever want to leave. He'd had conversations with a couple of personnel about their gene and, while he didn't have that same symbiotic relationship with the City, he couldn't help but sense that the city had formed a bond with him. It was ridiculous, he knew, and if anyone caught wind of it he knew a white padded cell wouldn't be far off but – well, he thought with a laugh, he _was _in another galaxy, leading the good fight against life-sucking aliens and robot machines and human-alien hybrids.

"I'm not taking shots at you, Richard," Nancy said quietly as she moved from her seat in the corner to the one in front of his desk. She leaned forward, her arms on the table and Woolsey watched as the light caught the ring on the chain around her neck. The gold glinted brightly as it swung but he looked away, up to her eyes and nodded. "From what I've seen so far, you're doing a good job." She shrugged. "No one can negate that."

Woolsey raised his eyebrow and pursed his lips, sensing the 'but' that she didn't voice. He didn't push for her to voice it either.

"Mr Woolsey?"

Woolsey looked up to Chuck as he hovered in the doorway, the young man's eyes making a cursory glance of Nancy Sheppard before settling back on Woolsey.

"Yes, Chuck?" It had taken him _many _weeks to get the poor boy's name correct and now that he knew it, he took great pains to use it as often as possible.

"Captain Kostokov's team found something interesting on M46, sir." Woolsey eyebrows rose at that and he glanced to Nancy to see that her interest was piqued as well. "He thinks you might like to hear about it soon."

Woolsey nodded and stood, pushing paper around on his desk for show. Even now, he still didn't like to be seen idle.

"Ready the briefing room, I'll be there in five minutes."

Chuck nodded once, nodded to Nancy and left, descending the stairs with rapid pace. Woolsey sank back into his chair and took his glasses off, pinching the bridge of his nose. This was all he needed. Another disaster to add to the ever growing pile of things he suddenly couldn't cope with. He needed a coffee – or a glass of wine, whichever was closest. He opened his eyes and saw Nancy gathering her things from the chair she'd recently vacated and he sighed. Such niceties would need to wait.

--

The silence in the Jumper was unsettling but Sheppard could do little to alleviate it. Ronon sat behind him, sulking silently and both Sheppard and Teyla had tried to draw him out with little success; they received a few grunts here and there when they exchanged vocabulary but little else. Sheppard suddenly realised how much time Rodney spent talking, how much time he and Rodney spent bickering, especially lately.

Beside him, Teyla tapped on a laptop at which Sheppard was silently surprised. She'd drawn up schematics that McKay would have and had transferred them onto the HUD; so used to having McKay do a lot of the leg work himself, Sheppard hadn't really thought about trying to hone their life signs detectors until Teyla's taps ignited the urge in the Jumper to do just that. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, watching as she silently worked, her head lifting every few moments to glance out at the black expanse beyond. He wondered if she, like him, was still fascinated by the emptiness of space. With the Stargates, the universe felt small but when witnessed from within a tiny machine like the Jumper, the expanse was vast and unthinkable.

It reminded Sheppard of how insignificant they really were.

"Do you think Woolsey will pass his review?" Teyla asked quietly, drawing Sheppard from his musings.

He turned to her slightly and shrugged his eyes flickering over the display on her laptop for a moment before the image appeared in his mind. He caught her eye and smiled, sending her a silent nod as he adjusted their heading slightly. It would still be at least half an hour before they reached the ship but Sheppard didn't want any unexpected surprises.

"I don't see why not," he replied moments later, glancing back to Ronon when he grunted. "Nancy's fair; there's many in the IOA that would give him a bad report just so they could get his job."

"And Nancy doesn't?" He turned to her then, meeting her gaze for a moment before she dipped her head. From behind him, he thought he could hear Ronon snicker but he chose to ignore it. "It is a job much coveted by the people of your world."

Sheppard snorted at that, fiddling with the control console for lack of anything else to do.

"Not as much as you might think." Teyla turned to him and raised her eyebrow. "It's... very political, you know?" He shrugged nonchalantly, looking away from her. "They appointed Woolsey because he's a by the book kind of guy and now that he's starting to play things the Pegasus way, they're going to piss all over him until he either quits, or goes back to the way he was. Either way, it's not good for us; Nancy only found out about the Stargate Program so she could come out to Pegasus and review Woolsey so that the results wouldn't be biased."

This time, Ronon did snicker and John turned to him and glared.

"What?" Ronon asked innocently and looked away, a coy grin teasing the edges of his lips.

"Why don't we concentrate on the mission, huh?" Ronon snorted and John frowned. He hated when Ronon got into these moods. He shook his head and turned back to the HUD as it beeped, the tension returning to his shoulders. "What the hell...?" He wondered quietly as he leaned forward to peer at the information blinking before him on the screen. "It's definitely Todd's ship, I'm picking up his transmitter but..." he trailed off as he touched a few buttons, mirroring Teyla as she did the same to the laptop. He could feel Ronon's breath on his neck, the extra weight on the back of his chair and he knew the Satedan was interested as well.

"There are no life signs," Teyla murmured quietly and Sheppard turned to her, watching as she too gazed out at the approaching bulk. In the expanse of space, it was clearly visible and Sheppard felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle as they stood on end.

"I say we just leave it," Ronon said casually as he leaned back in his seat again and Sheppard shook his head, his face contorting with confusion.

"We don't even know if they're on it."

"Could be a booby trap."

"It could be a call for aid, like the transmission stated."

"Teyla, can you sense anything?"

She shook her head. The three looked at one another, the glint in one's eye resembling that in the others'. They loved the challenge of the puzzle. Sheppard weighed up his options as the Jumper continued to close in on the Hive.

"We going in?" He met their eyes and their silence of approval. He nodded once and indicated to Teyla. "Contact Woolsey, let him know the situation." She nodded and John turned to Ronon. "What do you think?"

Ronon shrugged.

"Got what was coming to 'em."

John rolled his eyes and slowed the Jumpers' approach as they waited on Woolsey's response.

"He's in a meeting, sir," Banks replied over the radio and Sheppard rolled his eyes.

"Tell him it's important."

He was sure he heard Banks' sigh of disapproval.

"So is his meeting." There was a pause and Sheppard caught Teyla's eye, saw the way her back went rigid at the inflection of Banks' words. "It's about Michael."

He watched Teyla's face, felt Ronon lean forward and he turned back to imposing Hive before him. He realised now that maybe this was too good to be true.


End file.
